v8killer

Put in SFR FMIC a few weeks ago. Seems like the car spools up faster and picked up a little rwhp. Will dyno to see if there is a rwhp delta. There is some ducting that is between the radiator and original intercooler that separates them and directs air over each. Do I leave that in or remove?

shortyboy

How difficult and long was the installation? Did you need to modify the bumper like the others on the list?

odb812

I would expect the exact opposite in terms of spool up. By putting on a larger intercooler further away from the throttle plate and compressor with more piping feeding it, you are increasing the volume of air that the turbo has to displace before you start to pressurize the system.

Techno Duck

I kept the duct on mine as i figured it helped push air into the engine bay.

Like ODB said it should actually spool slower but i doubt you would even see the difference unless data logging it. You might notice the bypass valve flutters a little bit when it opens up when lifting off the throttle. It started doing that on my car when i went to a bigger turbo but only lifting from full boost. With the front mount it started doing it all the time, even at part throttle. My guess is its due to how much more air it is dumping.

kev951

my only beef is the air restriction now caused to the radiator.... same thing with big oil coolers in front.. and an ac condenser if you are running one

v8killer

Restriction over the radiator was a concern of mine as well. I do have a Ron Davis aluminum radiator and KISS aftermarket oil cooler. So far on the street I have not notice and coolant temp difference. We will see what happens when I track it this weekend.

Techno Duck

I had the same concerns, especially with the angle the intercooler sits at. But on the track i noticed no difference in water temps even running in the summer. This was with no a/c condenser though.

v8killer

A significant amount of the bumper support had to be cut out to fit the pipes. I had a buddy do the install and charged me for 5hrs of labor but I think it took him more like 7-8.

badcoupe

I didn't have to do any cutting for front mount. Coolant temps never increased any street driving with the ac on either. Although I don't think the ac is quite as cold it's negligible at best

Thom

Turbo spool is one thing, but VE is more relevant IMO.

On an engine set up where the stock IC is the weak (=restrictive) link in the whole engine/exhaust/turbo/etc chain, then intalling an IC with higher flow capacity will necessarily make for a better spool and improve engine VE.

I'm happy with my SFR FMIC, but that is on a 3.0 engine with a GT turbo and full 3" exhaust, and I would probably consider it overkill for a smaller engine running an original (=restrictive) KKK turbine.

As for ducting, I found useful to flip upside down the stock plastic duct between the stock IC and the rad so that the cool air that flows through the bumper opening for the stock IC is being forced onto the rad instead of being "wasted" into the engine bay. This made a light but noticeable difference in recovering decent coolant temps when driving from an almost standstill back to speed.